The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of observing biochemical substances, such as biocells, in a container such as a micro plate.
In a biochemical experiment, a biochemical substance such as animal cells, plant cells and bacteria disposed on an inside surface of a container such as a micro plate are observed with a microscope. For this method of observation, generally, the biochemical substance disposed on the bottom surface in a well of the micro plate made of transparent materials is observed from below the well by the microscope.
The image obtained by the microscope observation of the biochemical substance, such as animal cells and plant cells, often has a pale color and a blurry outline. It is difficult to determine whether an object being observed is in focus or not. Therefore, manual focusing it takes a large amount of time. Furthermore, an automatic focusing function, which is necessary for an automatic observation, has been difficult to apply to observing biochemical substances.
An apparatus and method for rapidly focusing an biochemical substances accurately for effectively observing them are provided.
The observing apparatus comprises an optical system with which biochemical substances disposed on an inside surface of a transparent area of a container are observed from outside.
The apparatus further comprises a container having a focusing mark which is used as a reference for the optical system to focus, the focusing mark being disposed on the inside surface or the outside surface of the transparent area on which the biochemical substance is disposed, a container holder holding the container, a focus-shift means shifting a focal point of the optical system, focus-shift-distance-output means for outputting a distance where shifting the focal point is shifted as translated numeric data, and a focus position storing unit storing the focal point.
A method of observing biochemical substances using the above apparatus includes disposing the biochemical substances in the container having the focusing mark, focusing the optical system onto the focusing mark, and focusing the optical system on an position to be observed by shifting the focal point of the optical system by a predetermined focus-shift distance between the focusing mark and a desired position of the biochemical substance.
This method allows the optical system to focus on the substances accurately and rapidly at the desired position even when the image of the substances is unclear.